> New to networking, there is so much out there it is hard to discern which
> NIC's are the best.
The NetGear FA310TX has been a favorite of mine and MANY others for some
months now. It's PCI based, busmastering, 10/100 speed, and very well
supported. Cost: $29 to $39 at most mail order and retail outlets.
What has made this card so good is its combination of a great Digital ethernet
controller chip, the '21xxx' chip, a good board, manual, driver support,
warranty, and of course price. All together it's a winner.
Unfortunately, Netgear has started shipping the same branded, same model
numbered cards with PNIC clone chips. These won't use the same driver and
while it's likely the will be fully supported in Linux in the future, they are
not as proven and supported as the existing Digital chips. So if you buy an
FA310TX, or some similar card that used to use Digital, make sure you can
return it if it does not have a Digital card and fails to work for you.
Other cards using the Digital controller include the Kingston KNE-40T,
KNE-100-T (I think), and the D-LINK DFE-500TX. I'm sure there are many
others.
PS. Don Becker, the author of many of Linux's ethernet cards, has received
FA310TX with the PNIC cards and I'm undoubtely sure he is/has written drivers
for them.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maxwell Spangler, Software Developer, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA!SouthparkKCKSAS!
